Sand sifting starfish crawling on glass?

[be_ninja_pancake]

Hi all, Patrick the sand sifting starfish has crawled completely out of the sand and is on the glass. My partner says he’s just eating the brown diatom algae on the glass. Is it ok if he’s out of the sand?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

With the climbing of the glass, I've heard that it may be due to hunger or due to the star seeking oxygen - whether or not it's an indication of stress/something being wrong, though, I can't say for sure one way or the other:

Interestingly they've been showing a very strong attraction to the areas of the tank where they can receive the highest oxygen levels regardless of exactly where I relocate the airstone to. The tank also has a skimmer so it certainly isn't deficient in oxygen so I'm going to be doing some research to try to figure out what causes this behavior and possibly how conditions can be optimized for their care. Not sure how I'm going to do this yet...

I'd try something like clam, oyster, etc. and/or snail meat (you can find various frozen/live marine snails to try online, including conch meat, periwinkle snails, babylonian snails, etc.)

The quote below is specifically geared toward Astropecten spp. (predatory) sand sifting stars, but there is another genus of sand sifting stars called Archaster that is thought (importantly the diet was inferred, not studied in the research that this diet was pulled from) to be detritivorous (specifically, they are thought to be microphagous detritivores). I have heard but cannot confirm that Archaster spp. misidentified as Astropecten spp. may be more common in the hobby than actual Astropecten spp. are.

So, with this in mind:
- If your star is detritivorous (which may be a very big if), then you would likely want smaller foods than the suggested below (which is designed for predatory sand sifters). In this case, I'd suggest trying to mix something like TDO Chroma Boost into the sand for your stars to find.
- If your star is predatory (which may to our limited knowledge be possible at this point even if it is an Archaster sp.), then the below advice (and my advice above) is more likely to be useful.
- If your star is actually primarily a biofilm eater like Linckia spp. Protoreaster nodosus, etc. (which may also to our limited knowledge be possible for an Archaster sp.), then it's likely to die regardless of what you do or don't feed it at this point.

The quote below referenced in the quote above:

ISpeakForTheSeas said:
I’ve heard they climb the glass when they’re looking for food and can’t find any in the sand bed.

Generally, people recommend large tanks and waiting until your tank is established before trying these (or pretty much any) sea stars, and the star survives on detritus in the tank. Unfortunately, even in a lot of these tanks, after they finish clearing the detritus from the sand, they typically starve.

My current advice to avoid the star staving - which may or may not help, I genuinely don't know at this point (it could take someone months to years of testing it to find out for certain, as sea stars can last months without food):
Target feed the star things like clam on half shell, oyster, mussel, scallop, etc. (bivalves); snail, whelk, conch, etc. (sea snail gastropods); and a good quality omnivore food (like LRS Reef Frenzy or Fertility Frenzy). These are - according to the best sources of information I can find - the sorts of foods sand sifting stars consume in the wild, and the star should swallow these foods whole if they aren't too big - you might need to experiment a bit with the size of the pieces offered to get it sized just right, but generally I'd say err on the smaller side.

If you decide to give it a shot, let me know how it goes, and keep me updated on the long term survival of the star!

 

[be_ninja_pancake]

With the climbing of the glass, I've heard that it may be due to hunger or due to the star seeking oxygen - whether or not it's an indication of stress/something being wrong, though, I can't say for sure one way or the other:


The quote below referenced in the quote above:

Thank you! I’ll try spot feeding him with a little mysis shrimp later

 

[\m/reefsnmetal\m/]

My guess would be food as well, especially with how new your tank looks. I lost two of those thinking they could just scavenge what they need like normal clean up crew. All of the research I've done since has lead me to believe that they will not survive without regular supplemental feeding, even if the tank is established (at least in my case 75g). My stars sadly fell apart bit by bit until they died. For what it's worth, my tank has never had O2 issues so I have no experience to comment on that possibly being the issue.

 

[KyleC]

Sorry to hijack this post... running fallow atm. Have a sand sifting starfish too... seems to be doing alright... but will start burying some frozen brine for it to eat..

My question... would a mandarin compete with thenstarfish for food? That is assuming the starfish eats pods too... or do they not? Plan to get one when out of fallow period.

 

[\m/reefsnmetal\m/]

Sorry to hijack this post... running fallow atm. Have a sand sifting starfish too... seems to be doing alright... but will start burying some frozen brine for it to eat..

My question... would a mandarin compete with thenstarfish for food? That is assuming the starfish eats pods too... or do they not? Plan to get one when out of fallow period.

My assumption would be that a star would be too slow to eat the pods, but may outcompete the pods' for food. Purely speculative based on what I know and have experienced with both. But I suppose with a large enough tank they might fare well. I know that in a 75g I could not support both a mandarin and sand sifting star.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Sorry to hijack this post... running fallow atm. Have a sand sifting starfish too... seems to be doing alright... but will start burying some frozen brine for it to eat..

My question... would a mandarin compete with thenstarfish for food? That is assuming the starfish eats pods too... or do they not? Plan to get one when out of fallow period.

The star might eat it, or it might not. If it does eat it, then it may or may not derive nutrition from it.

If your star is an Astropecten species, then - based on other stars in the genus - it’s probably predatory (the Astropecten species I can find info on prey on bivalves - clams, oysters, scallops, etc. - and snails, typically small, predatory snails). So, I’d try offering things like clams, mussels, etc., and/or snail meat (which you can buy online).

If your star is an Archaster species, then no one seems to actually know what they eat, so I’d just refer you to my quote above in this thread for feeding ideas.

As mentioned, stars are slow, so spot feeding them can be difficult with other critters in the tank; I’ve heard of people either putting the food under star directly, or of moving the star to a breeder/isolation box in the tank to feed undisturbed by the other inhabitants of the tank.

 

[KyleC]

Thanks for the reply and info. I have an Archaster. Previous owner had the tank for one year and wasn't aware it was even there until breaking it down when I came to collect it. I've had it for one month so far. It seems to be doing fine. Hides mostly during the day, then very active at night... it sometimes buries itself, but when it's foraging it tends to pull all the sand in under it, so it appears hunched in the middle.

Tried target feeding some small pieces of shrimp, it just moves. I do have a deep sandbed, which is teeming with life.. seems to be sustaining it so far. Heard they lose limbs of starved long enough so I'm keeping a close eye.

I also tried to maximise floor space for more surface area when it forages. Lovely specimen... I'll refrain from any other bottom feeders/sand sifters so it has little/no competition for food. This is it currently.

 

[KyleC]

My assumption would be that a star would be too slow to eat the pods, but may outcompete the pods' for food. Purely speculative based on what I know and have experienced with both. But I suppose with a large enough tank they might fare well. I know that in a 75g I could not support both a mandarin and sand sifting star.

Yea, to be fair it has no chance of catching them, not sure what I was thinking lol honestly my tank is swarming with pods of all types, amphipods, isopods, ostracods... with no fish they're having a party to themselves! Lol my tank is 300ltr (65g approx). Shame because mandarin are such beautiful fish... one day I'll get one when my starfish eventually perishes (by old age hopefully)